The present invention relates to an optical transmitter intended to transmit an optical signal through a broadband transmission network including at least one optical fiber that transports an optical signal from a transmitter to at least one optical receiver, the transmitter including at least two optical sources arranged in series and driven simultaneously.
The invention notably applies to video communication networks and to return channels of these networks.
An optical transmitter as defined in the opening paragraph above is known from U.S. Pat. No. 5,351,149. According to this document, various diodes are connected in series so as to produce more light and for transmitting in various directions; the group of senes-arranged diodes being connected to the same DC current supply and to the same AC current supply.
It is an object of the invention to improve the performance of the transmitter while facilitating the impedance matching between the output of an amplification circuit and the optical sources.
For this purpose, the transmitter includes means for separately supplying DC bias current to the optical sources and for supplying AC modulation current to them in series, while the separate DC currents biasing the optical sources flow via at least two inductances that have a value that is sufficient to practically block the flowing of the AC modulation current.
Particular embodiments of the invention will appear in the dependent claims 2 to 10.